Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-03-21
The Greatest of Dead American Gen.
erals Described by the Greatest of
Living English Generals.
Lord Wolseley's Account of the Com
mander-in-Chief of the Con-
federate Armies.
The Greatest American OF the Nine.
Geenth Century, Whose
Statue
Is Worthy 70 stand on an Equal Pedes-
tai with that of Wash
ington,
Louisville Courier-JournaI.

clusIvely for the COurier-JOurnal, the 1ull
text of Lord WOIseley's admirable article
on General Robert Z. Lee, extracts from
which were recently Cabled from London:
It is my wish to give short outline of
General Lees life, and to describe him as
| saw him in the autumn of 1862, when at
the head of proud and victorious troops
he smiled at the notion of defeat by any
army that could Re sent against him. 1
desire to make known to the reader not
only the reno Vned soldier, whom | De-
Iieve to be the greatest Of his age, but TO
give some insight into the character of
one whom have always considered the
most perfect m7u | ever met. Twenty
one years have passed since the great
secession war ended, but even still angry
remem5raaces Of IL prevent Americans
from taxing an impartial view OF the con-
test an those who were the leaders in it.
Outsiders can best weigh and determine
the merits of the chief actors on both
sides, but if IN this attempt to estimate
General Lees character | offend any one
by the OutspOken expression CT my opln-
ions | hope l may be forgiven. On one
side l can see, in the logged determine
ton Of the North perSeVeTed In to the end
through years of recurring failure, the
spirit for which the men Of Britain have
always been remarkable. 1t is virtue to
which the United States owed its birth In
the last century and its preservation in
1865. II is the quality TO which the Anglo
Saxon race il most indebted for it's great
position III the world. On the other
hand, l can recognize the chivalrOus
ValOr Of those ChiValrOus men whom Lee
LED to victory; VINO fought not only for
fatherland and in defense of home but for
those rights most priced by freemen.
WashingtOn's staiwart soldiers were
styled rebels ny our King and his minis
tiers, and in like manner the men who
wore the gray uniform of the Southern
Confederacy were denounced as rebels
from the banks of the Potomac to the
headwaters of the St. Lawrence. Lees
soldiers, well versed as all Americans are
in the history OF their foIefathers' strug
gle against King George the Third, and
believing hrmly in the justice of their
cause, saw the same virtue III one rebel
lion that was 10 be found in the other.
This was point upon which, during my
stay in Virginia in 1862, l found every
sOutherner laid the greatest stress. 1t is
a feeling that as yet mas not been fully
acknowledged by writer's on the northern
side.
Rebellion, foul, dlshonoring word,
Whose wrongful blight so of, hath stained
The hottest cause that tongue or sword
OF morIIl ever lost or gained
How many q spirit IN to bless
Hatn sunk beneath thy whitening name,
Whom but days, an hours, success
Had Estted 10 eternal lame.
As a lookcr-on, | feel that both parties
in ho WAR hgy q nrnn6
that both can afford to hear what impair
tial Englishmen or foreigners have to say
about it. Inflated and bubble regulations
were acquired during its progress, few of
which will bear the test of time. The
idol mOmentarIIy set up, often for pOliti-
cal reasons, Crumbles in time into the
dust from which its limbs were perhaps
originally nodded. 70 me, however,
two figures stand out in that history
towering above all others, both cast in
hard metal that will be forever proof
against the belittlIng efforts Of all future
detraCtoIs. One, General Lee, the great
soldier; the other, Mr.. Lincoln, the far
seeing statesman of iron will, of unfinCh
ing determination. Each is q good
representative of the genius that char
aCteTized his country. As | study the
history OF the secession war, these seem
to me the two men who Influenced it
most, and who will be recognized as its
greatest heroes when future generations
of American historians record its stirring
events with impartiality.
General Lee came from the class of
landed gentry that has furnished E gland |
at all times with her most able and dis !
tinguished leaders. The first of his fam |
lily who went to America was Richard |
Lee, who in 1871 became colonial secre- |
tary to the Governor of Virginia. The |
family settled in Westmereland, one of |
the most lovely counties in that historic |
state, and members of it from time to |
time held high positions in the govern i
ment. Several of the family distinguished |
themselves during the war of independ- |
enCe, amongst whom was Henry, the |
father of General Robert Lee. He raised |
a mounted corps known as "Lee's Lee |
giOn," in command of which he obtained |
the reputation of being an able and gal |
liant soldier. He WAS niCknRmed by his |
comrades Light Horse Harry" He was |
three times governor Of his native state. |
To HIM is attributed the authorship of |
the eulogy on General Washington, in !
which occurs the sO-Often-quoted SEN
tence, First in war, first in peace and !
urSJ II IUe uedIIS Vi LIS COUNT nSu,
praise that with equal truth might have
been subsequently applied to his own dis
tinguished son.
The subject of this slight sketch, Rob
ert Edward Lee, was born January 8,
1907, at the family place of Stratford, in
the county of WestmoreIand, state OF
Virginia. When only few years old his
parents moved to the small town of
which is on the right bank Of
the Potomac river, nearly opposite Wash
ingtOn, but little below it.
He was boy of eleven when his father
died, leaving his family in straitened
circumstances. Like many other great
he was in consequence
brought up In comparative poverty, a
condition which has Deen pronounced by
the greatest of them as the best training
school for soldiers. During his early
years he attended q day-schooI near his
home in Alexandria. He WAS thus en-
sbled IN his leisure hours to help his in
valid mother in all her household con- j
Germs, and to afford her that watchful :
care which, owing to her delicate health, {
she so much needed. She was q clever,
woman, and by her